Slings are basic accessories for modern climbing. They are used to secure climbers in case of falls and to secure climbing companions.
Slings typically include a structure formed by technical fabric bands that surround the climbers' hips and thighs which secures him or her and provides coupling points for necessary gear.
Slings are connected to securing or descent devices by means of a snap hook, typically, a snap hook with a screw lock, in order to avoid its accidental release. Such snap hooks normally have sufficiently large dimensions, on the one hand, to allow it to be secured to a sling ring, and on the other hand, to allow the insertion of a belay or abseil device. Thus, the latter are free to slide along the inner ring of the snap hook, forcing the user into uncomfortable, unpractical and/or dangerous positions of the snap hook, due to transversal loads acting on the snap hook itself.
To overcome this drawback, snap hooks having a movable lever dividing the insertion space of the ring of the belay or abseil device from that of the sling ring, have been proposed. However, these solutions have significant drawbacks. First, the space accommodating the sling ring is too small. This is because the movable lever operates below the hinging point of the spring closing element of the snap hook, thus in the area adjacent to the smaller curve of the snap hook.
Another significant drawback is that the movable lever can be easily opened if the sling ring is accidentally pushed towards the larger curve of the snap hook, thus hindering the separation function between the two areas that the movable lever should perform.
Thus, the problem addressed by the present invention is the need for snap hooks solving the above mentioned drawbacks.